The present invention relates to a telephone set and, more particularly, to a telephone set which can be used by inserting a card.
Some public telephone sets which have been recently developed can allow automatic transfer service of telephone charges by reading magnetic information recorded in a magnetic card such as a commercial credit card and hence can be used without inserting a coin. Such a telephone system will be widespread in a near future.
In a telephone set used in such a telephone system, a card insertion port is formed in addition to a coin slot, and a card reader for reading magnetic information recorded on the card is provided behind the card insertion port. As the card reader, a manual type card reader is most widely used. In this case, a user moves the card inserted in the card reader by his or her hand to read magnetic information recorded on the card.
The above telephone sets are classified into two types in accordance with structures of the card reader. A public telephone set of the first type is schematically shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a front view of the telephone set, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing of the public telephone set; 2, a plurality of dialing keys; 3, a handset; and 4, a hanger for handset 3. Card insertion groove 6 is vertically formed on a front surface of housing 1. Card reader 5 is provided behind groove 6.
In order to use this public telephone set, a user first takes up handset 3 from hanger 4. Then, the user inserts card 10 into card reader 5 through groove 6 and slides it down along groove 6. While card 10 is slid, head 7 of card reader 5 reads magnetic information recorded in magnetic strips 10a of card 10. The readout data is subjected to processing such as identification by a processor provided inside or outside the telephone set, and a speech circuit is connected. Then, the user operates keys 2 to make a call.
A public telephone set of the other type is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a front view of the telephone set, and FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3. In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a housing of the public telephone set; 12, a plurality of dialing keys; 13, a handset; 14; a hanger for handset 14. Card insertion slit 18 is horizontally formed on a front surface of housing 11. The length of slit 18 corresponds to the width of a card. Recess 15 is formed at a central portion of slit 18. Card reader 17 is provided behind slit 18.
In this telephone set, card 10 is inserted into card reader 17 through slit 18 and then removed therefrom. During insertion or removal of card 10, head 19 of card reader 17 reads magnetic information recorded in a magnetic stripe of card 10. Recess 15 assures a space for fingers so that they are not brought into contact with a housing wall defining slit 18 when the user pinches an end portion of card 10 to insert/remove it. Except for the above description, this second telephone set has the same arrangement and operation as those of the first telephone set.
However, the public telephone set used by a card as described above poses a serious problem in which a user is expected to erroneously operate the telephone set before such a telephone system is completely widespread. A most frequent erroneous operation in the future on the basis of the wealth of experiences is such that a card is inserted in a card reader before a handset of the telephone set is taken up from a hanger. An existing telephone set of this type used by a card does not read magnetic information recorded in a card if the card is inserted in a card reader before a handset is taken up from a hanger. That is, in this case, the telephone set cannot be used. Therefore, a user may be confused or may determine that the telephone set malfunctions without noticing his or her wrong operation procedures.
Moreover, in the telephone sets as described above, in order to form a card insertion slit on a front surface of a housing, a front surface area of the housing is increased, so that the size of the telephone set is undesirably increased. Especially in the telephone set of the first type, since a groove having a length twice the length of the card, the housing is further bulky. In the telephone set of the second type, if a piece of paper or the like is inserted in the card insertion slit by mischief or the like, a card cannot be normally inserted therein.
In addition, in order to make a housing of such a public telephone set compact, various improvements have been conventionally made. Examples are Model 1200-2 of EL COTEL Inc., 8425 Whitfield Park Loop, Sarasota, Fla. 34243, U.S.A., UNIVERSALL-7EW-VF of ERNEST TELECOM Inc., 6475 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Suite Tree Hundred, Norcross, Ga. 30071, U.S.A., and CTR-600/700 of PORTEL Inc., 412 Longfellow Boulevard, Lakeland, Fla. 33801, U.S.A. In each of the sets exemplified above, dialing keys are arranged below a hanger. When a handset is hooked on the hanger, the dialing keys are located behind the handset. That is, a portion where the handset is hung up is the same as that where the dialing keys are located. Therefore, the front surface area of the housing can be reduced, so that the entire set can be made compact. In the product of ERNEST TELECOM Inc., a projection is formed on the housing front surface at a position immediately below a lower end of a handset hung up on a hanger, and a card reader of the first type, i.e., a slide type card reader is provided to the projection, thereby reducing the front surface area of the housing. In the product of PORTEL Inc., a projection is formed at a position corresponding to a lower end of a handset hung up on a hanger, as described above, and a card reader of the second type, i.e., an insertion/removal type card reader is provided in the projection. This card reader is arranged to be inclined downward toward the front surface, and a card is inserted obliquely upward. With the above arrangement, the front surface area of the housing is reduced, and the entire telephone set is made compact.